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Tiger on the Tee

Posted in: General Golf Discussion

jddonovan LowIndex
Go to Last Reply 213 Views 20 Replies 2 Likes
OK - Tiger won at the Blue Monster and the media are ready to give him the 2013 Masters. His putting last week was legen (wait for it) dary, and his iron play is some of the best in the business, but can I get a whoop, whoop for mediocre driving? Although the fairways are narrow at Doral, he was missing more than his fair share. Hank Haney was right when he told Tiger he should use a driver with a higher loft. Phil did it earlier this year to fantastic results. Tiger should follow suit. Tiger is reluctant to do it because he's afraid he'll lose yards, but at Augusta an errant drive just isn't in the rough - it's in the Georgia Pines.
cogolfer1 LowIndex
# 16 3/14/2013 10:04:11 PM
I'm the biggest non-Tiger fan on the planet and look for anything to bring his chances down at the majors, and that's one I could add to the book along with his lack of a draw and dependance on the fade. But... it's been too long. With no rhyme or reason to it I'm picking him to win at Augusta. 2 or more though is stretching it. Merion, Muirfield, and Oak Hill don't fit him. Don't fool yourself, Tiger can play a draw any day of the week if he wants to. In fact, it is his natural shape. But holding greens on the PGA Tour is much easier with a Fade. BTW, he hit a great draw on #18 Sunday, when about half the field had put a ball in the water on that hole. Sunday? 1st shot went right to avoid the water off the tee, 2nd was a layup, 3rd was a little close for comfort, chip, putt for bogey. Maybe Saturday but I thought that was a fade for his 2nd.
Mark Simmons Legend
# 17 3/15/2013 1:25:17 AM
Tiger has never won because of his driving accuracy. He wins because he plans smart misses that still leave him a chance to get to the green. He is longer than most off the tee so he is closer to the green. Therefore, he has a more lofted club into the green so he can still get enough spin to hold them from the rough. Agreed. FIR is one of the most misleading useless stats in golf. There are lots of good misses off the fairway and lots of bad misses you can't afford. But FIR counts them the same.
MikeNomgi Professional Champion
# 18 3/15/2013 5:20:24 AM
I could be wrong, and I know that Tiger is NOT "The Bear," but didn't Jack favor the fade? Seems like it was a pretty good shot for him -- or was it? I don't think Jack favored the fade but Arnie did. Arnie got into trouble many times on the left side due to a pull when he would over rotate his shoulders. When his fade was working, no one could touch him. I think Jack was more versatile much like Mickelson and Watson, he would work it both ways. I might be wrong and have that backwards but I think I am correct. You have it backwards. While any pro worth his salt has the ability to "work" the ball, most favor one shape or another. I can't imagine there was ever a player that earned a Tour card that couldn't hook or slice the ball when it was absolutely necessary. For Jack, his trademark was ALWAYS the high fade. It's what won him six Masters by getting the ball to stop on firm, fast greens. His plan was to always take the left side of the course out of play. Arnold, on the other hand, hit the ball low by most objective measure. He said on more than one occasion he'd have won a dozen Masters had he been able to hit a high fade like Jack. Arnold was not known for hitting a fade.
larryrsf Professional Champion
# 19 3/15/2013 11:42:54 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.. This is just fantastic. DeFrancisco basically says Tiger's swing is perfect, he has no criticism! If Tiger continues to swing like this, he will be in close contention or win every tournament! NOBODY is this good. Notice how Tiger teaches himself! Notice is careful rehearsals before he hits on the course. He works to avoid getting "stuck" by exaggerating the opposite moves. He rehearses the downswing plane, carefully checking the direction the butt of the club moves. He makes several practice swings, then hits the ball. Amazing. If Tiger does all that, what should amateurs do? His careful rehearsals before actually swinging on the course prove that even the best, even those who started playing at age 3 still must refresh their subconscious memory. Since much of the swing occurs too fast for conscious correction, we must rely on our subconscious. And it can be trained only in slow or stopped motion. Do it, feel it, then do it at speed. That is what Tiger is doing as we see him preparing to hit when it really counts. Larry Larry

jddonovan

LowIndex

Go to Last Reply

213 Views 20 Replies 2 Likes

OK - Tiger won at the Blue Monster and the media are ready to give him the 2013 Masters. His putting last week was legen (wait for it) dary, and his iron play is some of the best in the business, but can I get a whoop, whoop for mediocre driving?

Although the fairways are narrow at Doral, he was missing more than his fair share. Hank Haney was right when he told Tiger he should use a driver with a higher loft. Phil did it earlier this year to fantastic results. Tiger should follow suit. Tiger is reluctant to do it because he's afraid he'll lose yards, but at Augusta an errant drive just isn't in the rough - it's in the Georgia Pines.

cogolfer1

LowIndex

# 16 3/14/2013 10:04:11 PM

I'm the biggest non-Tiger fan on the planet and look for anything to bring his chances down at the majors, and that's one I could add to the book along with his lack of a draw and dependance on the fade. But... it's been too long. With no rhyme or reason to it I'm picking him to win at Augusta. 2 or more though is stretching it. Merion, Muirfield, and Oak Hill don't fit him.

Don't fool yourself, Tiger can play a draw any day of the week if he wants to. In fact, it is his natural shape. But holding greens on the PGA Tour is much easier with a Fade. BTW, he hit a great draw on #18 Sunday, when about half the field had put a ball in the water on that hole.

Sunday? 1st shot went right to avoid the water off the tee, 2nd was a layup, 3rd was a little close for comfort, chip, putt for bogey. Maybe Saturday but I thought that was a fade for his 2nd.

Mark Simmons

Legend

# 17 3/15/2013 1:25:17 AM

Tiger has never won because of his driving accuracy. He wins because he plans smart misses that still leave him a chance to get to the green. He is longer than most off the tee so he is closer to the green. Therefore, he has a more lofted club into the green so he can still get enough spin to hold them from the rough.

Agreed. FIR is one of the most misleading useless stats in golf. There are lots of good misses off the fairway and lots of bad misses you can't afford. But FIR counts them the same.

MikeNomgi

Professional Champion

# 18 3/15/2013 5:20:24 AM

I could be wrong, and I know that Tiger is NOT "The Bear," but didn't Jack favor the fade? Seems like it was a pretty good shot for him -- or was it?

I don't think Jack favored the fade but Arnie did. Arnie got into trouble many times on the left side due to a pull when he would over rotate his shoulders. When his fade was working, no one could touch him. I think Jack was more versatile much like Mickelson and Watson, he would work it both ways. I might be wrong and have that backwards but I think I am correct.

You have it backwards. While any pro worth his salt has the ability to "work" the ball, most favor one shape or another. I can't imagine there was ever a player that earned a Tour card that couldn't hook or slice the ball when it was absolutely necessary. For Jack, his trademark was ALWAYS the high fade. It's what won him six Masters by getting the ball to stop on firm, fast greens. His plan was to always take the left side of the course out of play. Arnold, on the other hand, hit the ball low by most objective measure. He said on more than one occasion he'd have won a dozen Masters had he been able to hit a high fade like Jack. Arnold was not known for hitting a fade.

larryrsf

Professional Champion

# 19 3/15/2013 11:42:54 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v..

This is just fantastic. DeFrancisco basically says Tiger's swing is perfect, he has no criticism! If Tiger continues to swing like this, he will be in close contention or win every tournament! NOBODY is this good.

Notice how Tiger teaches himself! Notice is careful rehearsals before he hits on the course. He works to avoid getting "stuck" by exaggerating the opposite moves. He rehearses the downswing plane, carefully checking the direction the butt of the club moves. He makes several practice swings, then hits the ball. Amazing. If Tiger does all that, what should amateurs do?

His careful rehearsals before actually swinging on the course prove that even the best, even those who started playing at age 3 still must refresh their subconscious memory. Since much of the swing occurs too fast for conscious correction, we must rely on our subconscious. And it can be trained only in slow or stopped motion. Do it, feel it, then do it at speed. That is what Tiger is doing as we see him preparing to hit when it really counts.

Larry

Larry

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